ArticleScience robotics2022
Magnetically actuated gearbox for the wireless control of millimeter-scale robots.
Article in Science robotics, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed.
- Review of Gastrointestinal Capsule Robots: Materials, Actuation, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- 3D Printing of Magnetic Soft Materials for Functional Structures and Devices.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026Review
- Enable active mobility of untethered miniature robots in high-resistance multiphase medium.Science advances · 2026Article
- Springtail-inspired compliant hinge enables terrain-adaptable takeoff in insect-scale robots.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Physical Intelligence in Small-Scale Robots and Machines.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026Review
- Stable magnetic soft structures.Science advances · 2025Article
- Microscopic geared metamachines.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Reconfigurable robust microrobot collectives with large force output enabled by gradient magnetic fields.Science advances · 2025Article
- Submillimeter fiber robots capable of decoupled macro-micro motion for endoluminal manipulation.Science advances · 2024Article
- Magnetically Actuated Soft Microrobot with Environmental Adaptative Multimodal Locomotion Towards Targeted Delivery.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- Squirting-cucumber-inspired miniature explosive hydrogel launcher.Nature materials · 2024Article
- Fracture-driven power amplification in a hydrogel launcher.Nature materials · 2024Article
- Direct laser writing-enabled 3D printing strategies for microfluidic applications.Lab on a chip · 2024Review
- Control of Self-Winding Microrobot Using an Electromagnetic Drive System: Integration of Movable Electromagnetic Coil and Permanent Magnet.Micromachines · 2024Article
- Design and build of small-scale magnetic soft-bodied robots with multimodal locomotion.Nature protocols · 2024Review
- Three-Dimensional Manipulation of Micromodules Using Twin Optothermally Actuated Bubble Robots.Micromachines · 2024Article
- FABRICATION OF MULTILUMEN MICROFLUIDIC TUBING FORProceedings. IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems · 2024Article
- Single-Electrode Electrostatic Repulsion Phenomenon for Remote Actuation and Manipulation.Research (Washington, D.C.) · 2024Article
- Micro- and nanofabrication of dynamic hydrogels with multichannel information.Nature communications · 2023Article
- An acoustically controlled helical microrobot.Science advances · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The limited force or torque outputs of miniature magnetic actuators constrain the locomotion performances and functionalities of magnetic millimeter-scale robots. Here, we present a magnetically actuated gearbox with a maximum size of 3 millimeters for driving wireless millirobots. The gearbox is assembled using microgears that have reference diameters down to 270 micrometers and are made of aluminum-filled epoxy resins through casting. With a magnetic disk attached to the input shaft, the gearbox can be driven by a rotating external magnetic field, which is not more than 6.8 millitesla, to produce torque of up to 0.182 millinewton meters at 40 hertz. The corresponding torque and power densities are 12.15 micronewton meters per cubic millimeter and 8.93 microwatt per cubic millimeter, respectively. The transmission efficiency of the gearbox in the air is between 25.1 and 29.2% at actuation frequencies ranging from 1 to 40 hertz, and it lowers when the gearbox is actuated in viscous liquids. This miniature gearbox can be accessed wirelessly and integrated with various functional modules to repeatedly generate large actuation forces, strains, and speeds; store energy in elastic components; and lock up mechanical linkages. These characteristics enable us to achieve a peristaltic robot that can crawl on a flat substrate or inside a tube, a jumping robot with a tunable jumping height, a clamping robot that can sample solid objects by grasping, a needle-puncture robot that can take samples from the inside of the target, and a syringe robot that can collect or release liquids.
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